“Jezebel! Adultress! You must repent!” a shrill voice suddenly screeched from farther up the walkway, coming closer. The crowd stepped back from the source of the clamor, and Veronica got a brief glimpse of a woman marching down the walkway, fire and brimstone in her eyes, with just a little crazy added in to make things interesting. She looked intent on reaching the foursome standing with the minister, shocked and angered expressions on their faces.
“You’re going to hell, Maizy Owen! God will strike you down for your sins! This wedding must not take place!” She lifted a picket sign that had the words Keep Divine Pure—Say No to Polyamory! written on it in bold block letters.
The crowd gasped and from behind her, Veronica heard Hank curse softly under his breath as the woman continued shrieking. He held up his hand to stay the grooms, and Jack and Adam, when they parted from their group, and said, “I’ll handle it. This shouldn’t take long.” He slid his Stetson onto his head and looked down at Veronica. “My apologies, ma’am. I’ll be back.”
She nodded unconsciously, wondering why he would apologize to her but didn’t have time to ask as he stalked up the walkway in a long-legged, decidedly purposeful gait. He called me ma’am.
The woman managed to draw close enough to point her finger at the bride. “Maizy Owen, you are shaming your entire family! Harlot! Jezebel! Defiler! You should be ashamed!” She stared at the grooms, an odd shifting of emotion apparent in her eyes. She was indignant, to be sure, judging by her red-cheeked fury, but there was some other emotion mixed in, as she once more turned her anger on Maizy and continued her harangue of the bride.
Interesting. Not one word of condemnation for the grooms.
Veronica watched as Maizy hung on to Cody’s hand and stayed Heath and Spencer with her other hand, refusing to allow them into the fray. She looked up the walkway and said, “It’s only one woman. Hank can handle her.”
One of the guests, a short little man with an even shorter wife, muttered, “Ten bucks says it’s that lunatic, Tabitha Lester.”
“Harlot! Adulteress—what? Sheriff, I’m exercising my right of free speech! This is a public place! What? Wait! You can’t do that!”
The guests were now chattering amongst themselves and the volume increased as the woman continued her tirade, slowly losing volume as Hank escorted her from the premises.
A couple of minutes later, a Divine County sheriff’s patrol car pulled onto the side street where the entrance to the garden was located and came to a stop. Veronica couldn’t see much over everyone’s heads but she heard the sound of a car door slam and then the crowd shifted and grew quiet as Hank returned and waded into the center of the gathering.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance, folks,” he called out.
From the front, Amelia Owen, Maizy’s mother, called out, “Was it Tabitha Lester?”
Hank nodded with pursed lips and then chuckled when she turned to her husband and held out her hand. Mr. Owen rolled his eyes, pulled his wallet out, and slid a twenty-dollar bill into her hand. She smiled and slid it into her purse.
The minister stepped forward, a look of disbelief on his face. “Sheriff, can we continue now?”
Hank removed his cowboy hat and nodded. “Yes, sir. She was the only protestor.”
“Who would protest a wedding and call such despicable names to such a lovely bride?” Grandma Kate asked, sounding quite put out.
Veronica stroked Kate’s shoulder as Maizy’s mother provided the answer. “Someone who’s bat-shit crazy and needs to get her own man.”
Several guests chuckled and the murmurs gradually dwindled to silence as the ceremony continued without further interruption. Belatedly she realized that she’d been so busy observing and mentally cataloging the action that she hadn’t even turned to Travis, or said anything at all.
He must think I’m totally rude for not even saying hello to him.
She glanced over her shoulder at Travis, feeling a little guilty, but all he did was gently squeeze her hand, which she’d been holding the whole time, and smile as he watched the ceremony. Her negligence must not have bothered him.
He’d grown a full beard, which looked good on him. His dark brown hair was flecked with a little gray here and there but his beard was brown with lots of red in it and matched his eyebrows. She thought the combination was really sexy.
She turned back to the ceremony, mentally kicking herself again for not focusing, which was nearly impossible as Hank resumed his place behind her, next to Travis.
The minister pronounced Cody and Maizy man and wife and presented them to the assemblage to boisterous applause. Veronica watched with avid curiosity as Heath and Spencer joined the throng, giving—and receiving—hugs, kisses, and well wishes from the guests. It was a subtle form of acknowledgment that didn’t make a big splash or draw attention, even when both men had their chance to kiss and hug Maizy.
They were the epitome of cool and classy as they each held her in turn and kissed her with chaste restraint. Veronica wondered if it was her imagination or if she really saw the promise of erotic fulfillment in Maizy’s eyes as she looked up at both of them and embraced them.
Remembering that Travis still held her hand, she turned to them. Both men smiled, and Travis said, “Hello, Veronica. It’s been a long time.”
“You remembered me?”
“Of course. This is Hank Stinson, the Sheriff of Divine County, and my oldest friend.”
Hank smiled and her heart gave several deep thuds as he held out his hand. His gaze was so warm, and his sensual smile both put her at ease and sent the butterflies in her stomach into aerial maneuvers as he shook hands with her. “Hello, Veronica. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He turned his attention to Grandma Kate and said, “It’s good to see you again, ma’am.”
“Hello, Hank, dear. Good to see you again, too. With the exception of that troublemaker, Maizy’s wedding was simply lovely,” Grandma Kate replied as Ethan made his way over to speak privately with her.
Unsure what to say, Veronica bit her lip and her insides quivered as both their gazes dropped to her mouth. Hank finally broke the silence between them. “Grace told me you had questions that I might be able to answer.”
“Yes, sir.” Veronica looked down and realized that Hank still held her hand and he didn’t seem inclined to release it. “I understand the answers to my questions are of a personal nature and I’d be happy to meet with you privately, if you’d prefer.”
“That would be preferable, actually. Then we can talk at length and I can find out what it is you truly need to know.” He cast a glance around the crowd. “I’m afraid we’d be interrupted repeatedly if we tried to talk here.”
Veronica nodded, resigning herself to the role of observer at the gathering again. She understood if he and Travis wanted to party. Although there seemed to be more men than women at the gathering, she’d noticed several gorgeous women in attendance and assumed he’d come to socialize.
Travis slid his hand around her waist and drew her close, turning up the heat simmering inside her. “Great, then that leaves us plenty of time to get caught up, get to know each other better, and make use of that dance floor they’ve set up.”
Dancing?
Veronica edged away. “Oh, all right, well, you go have fun then. I’ll—”
Hank’s brows furrowed but a smile crossed his lips as he gathered her other hand in his. “We’re not letting you get away that easily, Miss Benedict.”
Travis nodded. “I’m not about to give all the other men here a chance to snatch you away from us. The bride and grooms will be leaving in a couple of hours. Would you stay and then perhaps come to the Dancing Pony with us for the post-reception fun?”
Before she could answer, Grandma Kate finished her hushed conversation with Ethan, shook her head, and patted his cheek. “That’s not necessary, sweetheart. They’re called intimate gatherings for a reason. But I think Veronica might jump at the chance.”
Ethan turned to her and s
he was once again dazzled by his brilliant blue eyes. “Veronica, would you care to join us for the binding ceremony. It’ll take place in about five minutes, in the reception tent.”
Biting her lip, she looked up at Travis and Hank, wondering what to say. Travis saved the moment when he said, “Veronica, if you’re doing research, you should go with Ethan.” He stroked her cheek and added, “Just know that we’ll be waiting for your answer.”
“You will?” she asked, glancing between the two of them, fighting the ball of nerves that tightened in her stomach. Her rational brain told her she was thoroughly exhausted from writing through a majority of the night but the idea of spending time with them was tempting. What could it hurt?
“We will,” Hank murmured, as his gaze slowly stroked her from head to toe, leaving a warm trail that felt like an actual caress.
I wasn’t hallucinating. “Well then…I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She could see the wedding party and a few select others making their way to the large white reception tent set up in the grassy lot next to the rose garden.
Grandma Kate patted her arm and waved her hand. “Go with Ethan and Grace, sweet girl. I’ll keep Hank and this fine-looking young man company while you’re gone.”
Veronica wanted to hide her face, which felt like it’d turned beet red, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say. Both men’s eyes twinkled as they nodded and helped Grandma Kate from her chair.
Veronica followed after Ethan and Grace, feeling stiff and decidedly ungraceful. She tried to dredge up the feelings she’d experienced when she’d first seen herself in the dress Grace had loaned her for the wedding. Because she rarely attended formal functions, and quite honestly avoided them like the plague, she hadn’t had a thing to wear to the wedding.
After discovering that she wore the same dress size and shoe size, Grace had brought her several dresses and pairs of shoes to try on. Grace and Kate’s faces had lit up when she’d modeled the red for them. She had to admit she’d felt like a model when she had turned to the full-length mirror in the master bedroom and gotten a glimpse of herself.
She was used to wearing yoga pants and baggy T-shirts because they were comfortable for work, and she was always working. She let out a deep breath and watched her step as she walked up the path, aware of the warmth that coursed through her body. She wondered if they watched her but refused to look back for fear she might lose her footing and topple in the red heels.
The entire throng moved back up the walkway and she was quickly separated from Ethan and Grace but didn’t want to push in between people. By the time she reached the tent, she was out of breath and worried that she’d disrupt the ceremony if it was already in progress.
Grace and Ethan smiled when she slipped through the opening which had been drawn closed. Grace waved her over and said, “We waited for you. Maizy told me she’d love to chat with you later, if you’d like.”
They’d waited for her? Veronica tried to hide her shock and smiled and nodded. “I’d love that.”
The ceremony that proceeded, with Ethan officiating this time, was a more intimate joining that included Heath and Spencer. Veronica couldn’t help it when her tears overflowed.
Grace smiled and handed her tissues as each man knelt in front of Maizy and pledged his life, love, faithfulness, and support to her, and slipped a slim diamond-studded ring next to the wedding band that already adorned her ring finger.
In turn, she spoke vows to each of them, binding her heart with theirs, and slipping heavy gold bands on Heath’s and Spencer’s fingers that matched Cody’s. Maizy sniffled as each groom kissed her hands, still on his knees, and then wrapped his arms around her waist and embraced her with pure love in his eyes.
Veronica was so enthralled by the whole ceremony that she wasn’t even sure she blinked until it finally ended.
She planned to ask Grace later if this was typical in Divine, if the attention and love lavished on the bride during the binding was the norm or the exception. She wondered what it would be like to be the recipient of such adoration.
As if on some cue, her phone vibrated in her purse again. Darn it! She’d been ignoring Brent’s texts and e-mails but something inside her got a little irritated and she took out her phone and opened up the long thread of all of his text messages. They all carried the same theme—all fifty of them in the last week. “Chubbs, come home so we can talk this out.” “Call me so we can talk about this, Chubbs.” “It’s not over until we both agree it’s over.” She rolled her eyes and her fingers flew on the keys as the guests milled around the tent for a moment.
“Stop texting and e-mailing me. Pack your belongings and move out, Brent. We are through.”
His reply was lightning fast. “Tell me where you are so I can come to you. I want to talk this out.”
“There is nothing to talk about. You cheated. And you hit me.”
“Chubbs, that was in the heat of passion.”
“No. You lost control. Pack your stuff and move out. Please.”
As Grace and Adam drew near, she smiled up at them and got her head back in the game. She needed to get some questions answered while they were still fresh in her mind, before she left the tent. She wondered if Hank and Travis would still be waiting, like they’d said. She braced herself, figuring that as handsome as those two were, they probably were already distracted by the other female wedding guests.
Chapter Four
“There’s nothing wrong with that cantankerous woman that a thorough spanking and some masculine attention wouldn’t cure.”
Hank chuckled at Kate Benedict’s comment about the wedding protestor. Tabitha Lester was becoming more and more of a thorn in his side.
Although he loved nothing more than delivering an erotic spanking, he shuddered inwardly at the thought of delivering such a spanking to the woman who’d disrupted Maizy’s wedding. It’d been ages since he’d been on the giving end of a spanking but the only bottom he’d consider turning hot and pink had sashayed seductively toward the reception tent a few minutes before. The connection he’d felt when he’d touched her finely boned hand had zipped up his arm and left him breathless.
“Did you place her in custody?”
Hank shook his head. “No, but I did inform her I’d be within my rights to do so since she was disturbing the peace. She trespassed at a private function when the rose garden was closed to the public. I think she would’ve enjoyed it if I’d put cuffs on her, though. More sympathy from her followers, but I didn’t want to do that. My deputy took her back to the station to cool off for a bit.”
“Well, I admire the resilience of the Divine ménages. It can’t have been easy worrying about people like that showing up everywhere, making such ignorant accusations and passing judgment.”
He knew from speaking with Kate on past occasions that she not only understood the true nature of the ménages located in his pretty community, she also officiated over binding ceremonies in Lusty in much the same way Ethan was doing in the reception tent.
They were currently giving her a tour of the Memorial Rose Garden, which had been dedicated to all the veterans of foreign wars in the community.
“I myself served in the military during World War II, as did both of my husbands, Gerald and Patrick. They were flyboys.”
Hank patted her hand and said, “Kate, could you tell us what it was like, having two husbands?” He sensed Travis’s acute attention as she answered.
“Well, once I settled in, I can tell you it felt as normal as it would for a woman married to only one man. Gerald and Patrick would probably tell you that I was far too independent and set in my ways for my own good but we managed fine and brought five beautiful children into this world.”
Travis said, “And how are you related to Veronica?”
“Her grandfather was a cousin to my husbands. I’m actually her first cousin by marriage, twice removed, but to make things simpler, I just ask that everyone calls me Grandma Kate.”
Hank look
ed over at Travis and said, “Kate’s the family matriarch and inspires all the women of Lusty to great mischief.”
Kate burst into laughter and hugged his arm tight. “The hell you say, lawman. I’m docile as a well-fed kitten and you know it. Travis, can you tell me how you know my honorary granddaughter?”
Hank was eager to know the answer to that question, too. “Yeah, Trav. Enlighten us.”
“Well, it’s not a long story. I’m a game warden and eleven years ago I was stationed in Wyoming. I was called out to investigate the report of an illegally trapped golden eagle in Montana. The witness insisted the eagle was entangled and injured inside a cage trap.”
“Veronica?”
“Yes, ma’am. Veronica met me at a trailhead early the next morning and…well, she showed me the way to the trap. We rescued the bird which was indeed injured from trying to fight his way free.”
“And…what?” Grandma Kate asked gently, obviously not overlooking his brief pause.
Travis chuckled and his cheeks flushed a little. “She berated me first thing for not coming the day before and told me it’d be my fault if the eagle died. Really let me have it. She was pretty upset until I explained that I’d been detained while trying to wrap up another illegal trapping case in the next state. I felt terrible because she looked like she’d been crying.”
“Berated you? That doesn’t sound like my sweet girl. Crying over the eagle definitely does, though. Veronica has a tender heart.” She looked up into Travis’s eyes as though she was searching for something. “Was the eagle able to make a full recovery?”
He hesitated for less than a heartbeat. “Yes, ma’am. It was treated and released.”
Kate scoffed and stopped in mid-step. “No need to lie to me, Travis McDaniel. I’m made of pretty stern stuff.”
Travis let out a sigh. “It developed gangrene from its injuries and had to be put down. It was trapped in the cage enclosure too long. One thing, ma’am?”
Awakening Veronica [Divine Creek Ranch 17] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6